The Runaway Prince
by mensuramjr
Summary: AU set where Arthur is a rebellious prince and Merlin is a druid. featuring Slash dragon Druids are less private and are hireable when chieftains of the various clans agree so and are a formidable force of their own right. The smex will be posted separately on AO3 to be safe. ;)
1. Prologue - The Red Dragon

Notes:

I have only seen the first half of season 1, and read through fanfics and wiki spoilers of the rest.  
As I prefer light humorous stories, I will be basing only parts of the charries on the show, and morgana might be good. Morguase I'm not sure will appear at all. It is also likely the minor charries from later episodes will be a bit OOC.

Sadly I am without a beta and britpicker, if any one is wlling to help, great, if not, well, at least I spell check everything.

* * *

A young man tore through the alleys behind a local pub, behind him, two knights struggling to catch up. The elder of the two fell behind, wheezing. The chase stopped abruptly as the man came to a halt, turning to face the knights.

"Oh, little girl, you don't challenge a knight and walk away without a lesson learnt." The younger knight snarled, though with less confidence then usual. Despite how he and his uncle were exhausted from the chase, the cloaked man before him only seemed to breathe slightly harder.

The man merely cocked his head to one side, and unsheathed a dagger, the insides of his dull bistre cape a brilliant flaming red.

Scarlet cape and a dagger with the head of a dragon at its hilt.

The elder knight sitting against the wall widened his eyes.

_The Red Dragon._

Pulling the younger knight aside before he spewed more insults and quickening their deaths, "Its _him_! The red dragon!" he said as the youngster growled a protest. "Don't be a fool, he did not run out of fear but for discretion, he could take us both out with but a finger!"

Shocked as he was, the young knight tried to look tough and brave as he held out his sword defensively before him as the red dragon walked towards them in confident strides.

He pressed the dagger to the knights' throat before any of them could even lift a finger.

"You are not to torment the village women any longer." He said, "I am quite sure this is not standard knight behavior."

They both stammered and agreed to whatever the red dragon asked.

He WAS known for the ruthless acts toward the corrupt and indecency of lords and knights alike.

OOOOOOO

The red dragon had no idea _when_ he became the red dragon, much less how he became the topic of many imaginative tales and rhymes, mostly about how he _saved _the common folk by gutting local lords who molest and mistreat…

Not exactly true, he may have gutted them, but only mentally.

He suspected the misconception was birthed from how he'd disappear with his, _victim_, and said victim would cease to exist, he was pretty sure he kept most of them alive while he reeducated them. He was under the impression they ran away in shame, or fear, either appealed.

As his father used to say, with great power comes great responsibility, and he just couldn't stand watching people being abused by those who should be sheltering them.

He sighed and pulled down the scarf and hood of his cape. Golden blond locks curling against his nape. Yawning as he stepped over a thick root, this forest was a bit unfamiliar, but the trees reminded him of the lands where he grew up, albeit wetter.

Trying to remember where he had tied Llamrei down, he furrowed his brows, he could remember this patch of grass quite clearly. Where had the mare disappeared to?

A familiar neigh sounded behind him, a whinny she liked to use when she missed him. He ran toward the white horse, baffled as to how she seemingly untied herself…

Only to trip over a rope that was suddenly raised mid gait, as a man sat himself swiftly upon him and bound his wrists together.

"Hello, Arthur." Came a bright voice.

Arthur groaned.

* * *

Notes:

I always did like awful first impressions (snicker

So yeah, my first merthur fic.  
Thanks for reading!  
You can leave anything in the comments like suggestions, or who do you think should appear? OwO

Sorry about the random spider man reference.

posted also on AO3, under the same name.


	2. 01 - The Agreement

"Hello, Arthur!"

Not exactly what Arthur had been expecting, the voice sounded young, around his age, though Arthur was not bulging with muscle, he had trained men in the arts of war and swordfight, he was a master. How someone of his age could so easily hold him down irked him.

The body above him was boney and light, Arthur struggled slightly in exasperation. Feeling the rope around his wrists tighten, he internally scolded himself for not paying attention to his surroundings, regretting deeply for letting his guard down, even if he was exhausted.

"That should do it." The man on him chirped as he got up. Pulling Arthur into a sitting position, he then circled to face the bound man.

"My name is Merlin, pleased to make your acquaintance." The man said as he squatted down before Arthur, completely ignoring the death glares. "You are very lucky you know, the community wanted me to kill you, than they wanted to capture you, than thank you, and now kill you again."

Arthur just held his gaze to show his contempt, he could not believe it, of all the people to tie him up, this Merlin, all lanky limbs and messy dark hair, shocked Arthur. The last time Arthur was held down had been by two grown knights and a squire, he must be more fatigued than he thought, if such a scrawny lad could tie him up so.

"But, fortunately, my mentor insisted I help you instead." Merlin said enthusiastically to a point Arthur thought he was being mocked.

"By luring me with my horse and tying me up, very benevolent." Arthur gritted out.

"Well, you were said to be vicious and all powerful, Red dragon, and I doubt you'd be willing to talk to me once you know who I'm working with, so I decided to trip and tie you. Of course, the hilarity of it is not lost on me" Said Merlin as he snickered.

Arthur just fumed. "So who, exactly, do you work with?"

"The community." Arthur gave a blank look. "The Tri-community?" Still nothing.

"You must be joking, the druids of course!"

"What do you mean of course, druids are supposed to be peace loving drifters!" Merlin widened his eyes, "Okay, I know you're a bit out of the loop on some news, but seriously this is ridiculous."

Arthur spluttered indignantly.

"Point is, all your heroic accomplishments? You really should watch who you agonize. You have no idea how many lords want your head on a golden platter and how much they'd paid to realize said dream. But you did save dear Mordred from those knights… even if you agitated the chieftains right after by saving the knight who tried to kill the poor boy."

"Bollocks, when in hell did druids go mercenary?"

"Since your father killed Cerdan, it was inevitable to be honest, people are bound to snap at SOME point." Merlin shrugged simply.

Arthur felt the urge to insult and swear at Merlin, but glowered at him instead, as Merlin continued. "Although I do work with the druids, I am technically an ally, my loyalty lies with myself. My mentor, Kilghrrah told me to help you, although you seem a prat, apparently I am supposed to help you unite Albion, among other less important things…"

"And what, pray tell, makes you think I want to be king at all?" Arthur asked in a cold voice. "I don't care for the throne, not anymore."

Merlin seemed a bit edgy with the chill of Arthurs tone, but furrowed his brows. "Don't be a child. You're the rightful prince, do you have any idea how agitated your father had become after you left? How many sorcerers he had killed just to relieve his grief?" He leaned in with a snarl. "All while you lay around playing hero and neglecting your duties."

"My duties." Arthur growled in return. "My duties of _what_? Killing and raiding villages? Because that's so much better."

Merlin widened his eyes, at first he thought Arthur was just a spoilt dollop head, shying from his duties. But he felt as if he could see a man of kind heart struggling to do what's best, a man he could follow.

"I'm not here to judge you. I'm here because no matter how far fetched, Kilghrrah is always right. Wither or not you want to be king, I will follow you and help you, and in turn help the people."

Merlin's eyes shone with sincerity, and Arthur could not help himself, "Fine, first though, untie me, then, we're going to the Druids."

Notes:

Because of the background I have given Arthur, I thought he would be less feisty when interacting, though still as hot tempered inside.


End file.
